SIR ARTHUR AND LADY ANN
Sir Arthur's foot is on the sand,
His boat wears in the wind;
An' he's turned him to a fair foot page
Who was standing him behind.
"Gae hame, gae hame, my bonny boy,
An' glad your mither's e'e;
I hae left anew to weep an' rue,
Sae nane maun weep for thee.
"Take this unto my father's ha,
An' tell him I maun speed;
There's fifty men in chase o' me,
An' a price upon my head.
"An' bear this to Dunellie's towers,
Where my love Annie's gane;
It is a lock o' my brown hair,
Girt wi' the diamond Stane."
"Dunellie he has daughters five,
An' some o' them are fair,
Sae, how will I ken thy true love
Amang sae mony there?"
"Yell ken her by her stately step
As she gaes up the ha;
Yell ken her by the look o' love
That peers out owre them a';
"Yell ken her by the braid o' goud
That spreads owre her e'e bree;
Ye'll ken her by the red, red cheek
When ye name the name o' me.-
"That cheek should lain on this breast-bane,
Her hame should been my ha';
Our tree is bow'd—our flower is dow'd—
Sir Arthur's an outlaw!"
He sighed, an' turned him right about,
Where the sea lay braid an' wide:
It's no to see his boony boat,
But a watery cheek to hide.
The page has doffd his feather'd cap,
But an' his raven hair;
An' out there came the yellow locks,
Like swirls o' the goud en wair.
Syne he's undone his doublet clasp,
Was o' the grass-green hue,
When, like a lily frae its leaf,
A lady burst in view.
"Tell out thy errand now, Sir Knight,
Wi' thy love tokens a';
If I e'er rin against my will,
'Twill be at a lover's ca'!"
Sir Arthur's turned him round about,
E'en as the lady spak';
An' thrice he dighted his dim e'e,
An' thrice he steppit back.
But ae blink o' her bonny e'e,
Out spake his Lady Ann;
An' he's catch'd her by the waist sae sma
Wi' the grip o' a drowning man.
"O! Lady Ann, thy bed's been hard,
When I thought it the down;
O ! Lady Ann, thy love's been deep,
When I thought it was flown.
"I've met my love in the greenwood,
My foe on the brown hill;
But I ne'er met wi' aught before
I liked sae weel, an' ill.
"O I could make a Queen o' thee,
An' it would be my pride;
But, Lady Ann, it's no for thee
To be an outlaw's bride."
"Hae I left kith an' kin, Sir Knight,
To turn about and rue?
Hae I shar'd win' an' weet wi' thee,
That I should leave thee noo?
"There's gowd an' siller in this han'
Will buy us mony a rigg;
There's pearlings in the other han'
A stately tower to bigg.
"Tho' thou'rt an outlaw frae this Ian',
The warl's braid an' wide;
Make room, make room, my merry men,
For young Sir Arthur's bride!"
——Hew Ainslie.